


My Dad's (A) Ghost Drabbles

by Whitescruffydog



Series: MDAG [2]
Category: Bleach, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Drabble Series, Gen, See actual story for tags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-24
Updated: 2016-08-24
Packaged: 2018-08-10 20:49:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7860616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whitescruffydog/pseuds/Whitescruffydog
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[In which Howard Stark returns as a soul reaper and the Avengers never get peace.]</p><p>MDAG itself is still very much in progress (there's a sort of deadlock between chapters two and three, I'm trying to eliminate as much repetition as I can) but since I'm writing some random things, I figured I'd post them up.  </p><p>Consider this a sort of collection of random tidbits and world building that won't spoil the story, but give you some insight into certain aspects of the universe as a whole.</p><p>[Previous work in the series is the actual story.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	My Dad's (A) Ghost Drabbles

**Author's Note:**

> This came about after a discussion with a friend about fanfiction, in that it's important to consider that even the tiniest change to canon can have effects on everything after it, even stuff after the end of the fanfic itself.  
> In other words, if it's important enough to write a fanfic about, most other things after that will be changed as well.  
> The example I used with her is that I would be a complete moron to say that the events of MDAG wouldn't affect parts of Civil War. This is a hypothetical intro to what may happen.

“We need control.  We need limitations.”  Tony insisted once again, thudding into one of the many chairs only to push off of it a moment later to move about once again.

Howard watched, standing within the boundaries of the room, yet seeming to distance himself as far as possible from his son’s erratic motions.  Tony was fairly certain that he wouldn’t take kindly to any input the man gave to his situation—Tony may have made peace with much of their relationship before his father’s death, but that didn’t mean it was all magically fixed—so his silence on the matter was likely wisely chosen.   

Around 10 months ago, his father returned as a ghost—or, to be specific, a being known as a soul reaper, who monitored the Earth.  These beings primarily did two things—kill hollows and help ghosts pass on.  However, due to the nature of the afterlife, soul reapers and hollows are primarily native to what is referred to as “Yamamoto’s Section,” and due to the rotation of the worlds and their influence on each other, ghosts do not currently appear in this part of the world. 

Tony was grateful to physics for this, as he honestly wasn’t sure he could handle meeting the ghost of someone killed by his actions.  Meeting his mother was bad enough. 

“I’m not sure what your point is,” Howard finally stated.

“Of course you’re not.  Because you never cared!” 

Howard’s facial expression dropped, and his head tilted forward, steely regarding Tony over his sunglasses, calmly but firmly questioning if he was truly in the right to lash out like that.  The tense silence was almost as unnerving as when he used to scream and yell twenty-some years ago.  It was a chilling reminder of just how much could change in that much time.

Tony’s mouth twisted, and he tasted—felt—bitter, but he forced himself to stay quiet, for the time being at least. 

“Of course I cared.”  It was a simple statement, and Howard returned to his original position, albeit crossing his arms.  “But just because something bad happens doesn’t mean you stop trying.  Is this about you or me?”

“It depends.  Whose side are you on?”  It felt childish, but it also felt good.

“I’m a ghost.  I don’t legally have a side.  But because I am standing here, I would assume it would be this side.”  There was that spark of dry humor that so many people connected to him. 

“So you think I’m right.”  He didn’t _need_ to hear it, what are you talking about?

There was a noticeable pause.  Tony’s heart did _not_ sink.  “I think that while most of the things you do frustrate me to no end, I’ll support you through virtually anything.”

Tony isn’t consciously aware of what point he sat down.  “So you think I’m wrong.”

“I think that if you were going to suddenly decide to start following the rules, you should have done it in the 70’s.”

Tony snorted.  One, because he was probably right, his behavior could have used a few tweaks in his youth.  Two, because he wasn’t going to get an answer from his father, and while he was disappointed, he wasn’t surprised. 


End file.
